On Monday,
May 7th,
2012, The Nominating Committee of the 30th
Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will announce the
nominees for this year’s awards at an invite-only cocktail
reception from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at The Lamb’s Club (132
West 44th Street, New York 10036) in the categories of
Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show, Outstanding
Female Dancer in a Broadway Show, Outstanding Choreographer
for a Broadway Show, Outstanding Choreographer for Film, and
Outstanding Director for Dance Documentary.
Liza
Minnelli,
who will be
honored with the
Douglas
Watt Lifetime Achievement Award,
is the winner of four Tony Awards, an Oscar, a special
"Legends" Grammy,
two Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy and is one of the
entertainment world's consummate performers. Ms. Minnelli,
other special guests and many of this year’s nominees will
be present at the May 7 cocktail reception.
In addition
to honoring Ms. Minnelli this year, The Astaire Awards will
also begin a new tradition, paying tribute to the career and
work of a choreographer and dancer during the awards. This
year they will be remembering
Bob Fosse
and
Gwen Verdon,
and a few signature Bob Fosse numbers featuring
current Broadway performers will be a part of the 30th
Awards Show on June 4th. Fosse directed Ms. Minnelli in the
film version of
Cabaret
for which she won the Oscar for Best Leading Actress.
This year’s
awards ceremony will also be dedicated to Tony and
Oscar-winning producer Marty Richards, a longtime
friend of the awards. The Astaire Awards are the only awards
show to honor excellence in dance and choreography on
Broadway and in film and were first started in 1982 by the
late Fred Astaire and the late Douglas Watt
(a critic and writer for the
NY Daily
News
and
The New
Yorker).
They are presented each year by Ava Astaire (Fred
Astaire’s daughter) and
Patricia
Watt
(the daughter of Douglas Watt). The awards will also feature
direction by Joe Lanteri,
the Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance
and also a teacher at the Juilliard School. This year they
will also honor three-time Tony Award-nominated Producer
Kathleen Raitt with a special award in recognition of
her helping to start The Astaire Awards 30 years ago.
The
Honorary Chairs Emeritus for The Astaire Awards are
Jacques
Azoulay,
Countess Luann deLesseps
and
Wendy
Federman.
The Gala Chairs are
Carolyn
Kendall Buchter
and
Alix
Michel,
and the Benefit Chairs are
Cassandra
Seidenfeld Lyster
and
Sara
Johnson Kaplan.
The 30th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards
will take
place on
Monday,
June 4th at 7:30pm
at the
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York
University
(566 LaGuardia Place). Select tickets are available to the
public priced at $425, $175 and $75 and can currently
be purchased online at
www.TheAstaireAwards.org
or Contact Sarah at 212-595-0924
sarah@theastaireawards.org